Cable modem Internet comes to Shenandoah County

Posted 1 October 2015 12:00 AM by Cindy Earehart Rinker

Starting Oct. 1, many Shentel customers in Shenandoah County will have access to Internet speeds up to 101Mbps.

Currently all homes in Shenandoah County with telephone service have access to DSL Internet with speeds up to 10Mbps. In October, customers in the Shentel cable TV footprint in the county will have the option of switching to Internet via cable modem at speeds ranging from 15Mbps to 101Mbps.

“Shentel has invested more than $1.5 million in the past 18 months to bring higher speed Internet service to Shenandoah County,” said Ed McKay, Senior Vice President – Engineering and Network Planning. “Customers here have been asking for faster Internet speeds and we are happy to be able to bring that option to them.”

Another frequent request from county customers was to be able to have DSL Internet service without having phone service. “Currently, Internet and phone are bundled together,” said McKay. “To have Internet, you need to have phone service. After Oct. 1, that all changes.”

Customers now can unbundle these two products and have DSL without phone service. Without phone service, the price of Internet will go up $10, but even customers on budget phone service will see an overall savings, McKay noted. Nothing will change for customers who choose to keep their phone and Internet service bundled.

The cable footprint in Shenandoah County is largely around the towns along US 11 and in the Bryce Resort area. These are the locations that will be eligible for the new high speeds: 15Mbps, 25Mbps, 50Mbps and 101Mbps.

Speeds lower than 15Mbps will continue to be offered via DSL and customers can choose whether or not they want to keep the bundled phone service. McKay noted that Shentel also upgraded the existing DSL network to provide 5mbps and 10Mbps service to more areas in Shenandoah County.